You Need a Good Shepherd - Daily Hope with Rick Warren - July 31, 2026

Daily Hope with Rick Warren

Audio By Carbonatix

By Rick Warren, Crosswalk.com

You Need a Good Shepherd
By Rick Warren

“My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep.” John 10:10-11 (NLT)

Sheep are essentially defenseless animals, so a shepherd carries a few tools to care for and protect his sheep. He has a rod for guarding and protecting, and he uses a staff with a little crook in it to rescue the sheep.

We are like lost sheep in need of protection and direction, so Jesus came to earth to be our Good Shepherd. He said, “My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep” (John 10:10-11 NLT).

Just as a shepherd uses the physical tools of the rod and the staff for direction and protection, God wants to direct and protect you. Here are two ways he does that:

If you follow him, Jesus leads you in the right direction.

You need a guide—a shepherd—to go before you in life. You need Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who leads from the front and calls you forward. This is different from a cowboy, who drives cattle from the back. Jesus is not going to push you through life. He gets in front of you and essentially says, “Watch how I do it. Look where I go.”

John 10:4 says, “When he has led out all of his sheep, he walks in front of them, and they follow, because they know his voice” (CEV).

If you bring your hurts to him, Jesus is compassionate.

Jesus has compassion on us, because he knows that we are helpless without him. Matthew 9:36 says, “When [Jesus] saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (NIV). The sense in the original Greek text is that Jesus hurt deeply for the people in the crowd and wanted to help them.

In the same way, when you bring your pain to Jesus, he doesn’t put you down; he lifts you up. He doesn’t hassle you; he heals you.

Because of God’s goodness, Jesus directs and protects you. Jesus is our Good Shepherd, who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28 ESV).

Tomorrow we’ll look at three more benefits of God’s goodness: how he guides, guards, and saves.

PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick

Rick Warren is an innovative pastor, renowned author, and global influencer known for founding Saddleback Church, the Purpose Driven Network, the PEACE Plan, and Hope for Mental Health. He has written several best-selling books, including The Purpose Driven Life, which has sold over 35 million copies in 200 languages. Time magazine named Warren the most influential spiritual leader in America and one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Since stepping down from the lead pastor role at Saddleback in 2022, Warren has continued to inspire people through his Daily Hope Devotional and podcast Pastor Rick’s Daily Hope. His first book in a decade, Created to Dream, was released in April 2023.

For more Daily Hope with Rick Warren, please visit pastorrick.com!

Your Gift Brings Hope to the World

You’re Helping Share God’s Love with Others

Thank you for being part of this opportunity to help more people experience the truth of God’s love—and begin sharing that hope with others.

Your gift will be matched through June 30 by a $50,000 Matching Grant, helping reach even more people with the Good News.

*All gifts will be doubled up to the full amount of the grant. Thank you for your generous support!

*The USA IRS code permits you to deduct the amount of your financial gift to Daily Hope that exceeds the fair market value of “current offer” materials you received from Daily Hope.